(- Huawei then go on to seem to claim Germany's MOMA is a smart grid magic solution.)

(You know how I got to that advert ?The BBC has a business BBC Worldwide to cross-subsidise the BBC by selling BBC stuff etc. It owns a magazine called BBC FutureSo when I looked at the cold weather stories in The Daily Express newpaper website, on the side it has adverts marked "promoted stories "..incredibly 4 out of 10 of them were adverts for BBC WorldWide stories .. I noticed the BBC Futures one about Climate ..clicked and found it was an advertising feature from BBC Future Magazine for Huawei )

BBC Future OpenADVERTISEMENT FEATURE HuaweiA BETTER CONNECTED WORLDThe more we connect, the better our worldThis eight part series will reveal how cutting-edge technology is changing the way we conduct our lives and connect with the world around us

Keeping the lights onNew technology is enabling global electricity operators to reduce the impact of power outages, improve grid management and introduce renewable energy sources, with huge savings to the economy and environment.

*** At the height of a scorching European summer, peak production of renewable energy in Germany was running as high as 75%, and solar topped out at 50% of demand. On average, 25% of Germany’s electricity generation comes from renewable sources. It has already smashed European Union targets for 20% renewable energy across member states by 2020.

In many ways, Germany presents a model for the future supply of renewable energy and the challenges that come with it, for other markets to observe. The rise of small stations, typically using wind or sun, means power networks are no longer just distributing power from central generators, they are taking it from many broadly distributed resources. For operators, power management is an increasingly complex balancing act. ***

This new dynamic is forcing changes to the central control architecture in the electricity grid. Annual spending on technology to create more distributed intelligence in the grid will top $42 billion by 2017. Nowhere is the technological challenge of balancing supply and demand in the network better illustrated than in Mannheim, in Germany.

DISTRIBUTED SUPPLYHere, the innovative Model City of Mannheim (MOMA) project, part of the German government’s “energy systems of the future” scheme, has seen sophisticated ICT and gadgetry deployed in the local electricity grid to engage consumers directly with the fluctuating availability of renewable power.

The MOMA grid takes power supply from over 500 producers and distributes it to residents in Mannheim and neighbouring Dresden. The grid itself doubles as a broadband power line system, which connects up a number of in-home smart devices. One thousand residents opted to take part in the project, which started in 2010. Their appliances were hooked up to this ‘energy internet’ and they were availed of a number of software tools to monitor their usage and spending.

“The big challenge for renewables is they are not always available when you need them; sometimes the wind blows, sometimes the sun shines,” says Ingo Schoenberg, chief executive at MOMA. “The MOMA project looked to find ways to balance supply and demand, between highly volatile energy generation andintelligent energy consumption, and to improve the efficiency of both.”

MOMA instituted an ‘energy butler’ device to switch on appliances during periods when energy is plentiful and cheap. What it showed is that people will change their behaviour if they are told what the real price of energy is.Ingo SchoenbergBy linking tariffs directly to network capacity, participants have been encouraged to use energy when availability is high and prices are low. For those not wishing to micro-manage their spin cycles, MOMA has even instituted an ‘energy butler’ to switch on appliances during periods when energy is plentiful and cheap. “What it showed is that people will change their behaviour if they are told what the real price of energy is,” says Schoenberg.

Armed with knowledge and technology, private households have saved around 10% in energy consumption, and 15% on energy bills, and the electricity operator has been able to better manage loads on the network. The MOMA findings have been used to legislate for flexible energy tariffs and a single communications platform, running both the smart grid and smart meters.

the advert then goes onto other topics which I have edited out.

The Electric Power Board (EPB) of Chattanooga,.... EPB grid ‘self heals’; its network of 1,200 smart switches communicate via its fibre network to determine the location of the outage, and to reroute supply. ...edited

If you don't know the true situation of Germany's renewables German blogger Pierre L. Gosselin explains it goes back to a misleading magazine article by Al GoreYes - all the renewable energies combined, i.e. solar, wind, biogas, hydroelectric, etc. amount only to 25% share of Germany’s total energy supplied as of 2012- Talk of 75% renewables or 50% solar is utterly misleading without adding the context that that is exceptional circumstances ie just a few minutes on particularly low demand time when the sun & wind were set just right for renewables.

A good explanation of Germany's situation is also here..Pierre is also running a series of articles right now on the poor state of Germany"s windpower... 14.8% average efficiency

By coincidence I've just listened to a BBC podcast about Uranium, one of a series about the elements and their impact. Can't remember the name of the series. This included a discussion between Mark Lynas and a German environmentalist. Lynas was in favour of nuclear as base load to replace coal, whereas the anti-nuclear environmentalist whose name I have forgoten was in favour of 100% renewable. He seemed to think the situation in Germany was approaching utopia as far as electricity generation was concerned. It seems brown will be phased out any minute and renewables from Germany will keep all her neighbours lights on by 2025. He was in total denial about more than one lignite power station being built. It was compulsive listening as both were also believers in CO2 being the greatest threat to our future wellbeing.

Huawei fun people to work with if you don't turn your back or take your hands out of your pockets .When you find out who actually owns them you release when you find spyware on equipment they sell you and why you can do f all about if you wan to keep getting your renminbi.